Support Our Troops
I am confused. So much energy is spent from the ODMs trying to knock out Rick Warren for his P.E.A.C.E. plan. They don’t like the fact that he is spending a good amount of time fighting for so called non-religious causes, and partnering with people of different faiths and backgrounds to do so.

Yet, somehow because we are American, it is acceptable to tie supporting our military to our faith. Causes like world hunger, AIDS and poverty are not a worthy cause (or worse, used as a weapon against those they disagree with), but supporting a non-religious war, and connecting scripture to it is perfectly acceptable. However, I would like to remind the elusive editor at CRN that they are supporting an organization, our military, that is 22% catholic, 21% atheist, and a good minority of Muslims and Jews. We won’t even get into the rising numbers of homosexuals in the military.

So, how exactly are you condemning Warren for partnering with Democrats and homosexuals to end world hunger, but you yourselves openly support an enterprise with people you condemn on a regular basis? Is this not a double standard?

For the record, I strongly support our troops and the original intent of the war. I think that we do owe them a good deal of gratitude.

Graceland is an estate in Memphis, TN, that Elvis Presley purchased in 1957. Posthumously turned into a museum and a tribute to the man dubbed the “King of Rock n Roll”, it is now reportedly the second-most visited private residence in the United States (behind the White House). Hundreds of thousands of people go there every year.

I’ve never been to Graceland, but like most places of its kind, there’s only so much time you can spend there. Even the most ardent Elvis fan would probably get bored if he lived there 24/7/365. It is a tourist attraction; you visit it, then you go home.

Unfortunately, it appears that Christianity has its own Graceland.

In the comments on my last post, iggy observed correctly that:

. . . often I see that after one comes to Grace, then more “rules and laws” are added . . .

And therein lies the problem. The Christian version of Graceland has been cheapened to a brief stop between a tour of Sun Studios and a ride on a riverboat.

Paul Galatians 3:24-25" target="_blank" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%203:24-25;&version=50;">noted that (emphasis mine):

. . . the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

The Christian Graceland is not a pit stop. You do not run by God’s house to borrow a cup of grace until you can get back to the law store and stock up on some more of those tasty commandments. Nor does grace end with a visit to the museum store to buy some short haircuts, long skirts, and a couple of hymnbooks that will start gathering dust before you’ve been back in your “normal” life for three days.

One of the main themes in the book of Hebrews is to help the Jewish Christians of that era see that returning to following the law is a total rejection of Christ’s work. As has been said, “Jesus plus anything ruins everything.”

Perhaps it has something to do with the boredom (with the Memphis Graceland) to which I alluded earlier. We feel like we can’t just stand there, but we have to do something. So we try to pay God back. And in doing so, we don’t merely insult Him. We defiantly tell Him that what He did was insufficient.

Yes, we all are responsible for Christ’s death. And so, in a way, it wasn’t just Roman guards that spit in His face — we all did. But that doesn’t mean that we need to continue to do so.

You don’t visit Graceland. You stay there. Forever.